Forbes Asia '100 to watch': 22 Indian startups, highest for any country, feature on new Forbes list

Indian startups like BeatO and Oye! Rickshaw, were among 22 ventures that made it to the Forbes Asia '100 to watch' list, which comprises of 100 companies that are making an impact in the Asia-Pacific region across sectors like biotech & health sector, education & recruitment sector, food & hospitality sector, and more

By Samidha Jain Forbes India Staff

Published: Aug 10, 2021 05:16:38 PM IST

Updated: Aug 11, 2021 04:01:07 PM IST

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Left to Right: Rohan M Ganapathy (CEO) and Yashas Karanam (COO), the co-founders of Bellatrix Aerospace, Bengaluru. Bellatrix Aerospace is one of the companies from India that has made it to the Forbes Asia '100 to watch' list; Image: Nishant Ratnakar

Twenty-two Indian startups have made it to Forbes Asia’s inaugural ‘100 to watch’ list, the most for any country on the list, which was released on August 9, 2021. The list sheds light on the top 100 startups and small companies, identified by Forbes, which have garnered attention and are on the rise across the Asia-Pacific region.

The Forbes Asia 100 to watch list covers ten sectors. They include bio-technology & healthcare, e-commerce & retail, food & hospitality, education & recruitment, construction & engineering, agriculture, logistics & transportation, finance, technology, and entertainment & media.

The 100 companies on the list represent 17 different countries and regions in Asia Pacific. The most number of companies are from India (22), followed by Singapore (19), Hong Kong (10), and Indonesia (8). Japan is ranked fifth with seven companies on the list. Startups from countries like China, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Thailand, Pakistan, Mongolia, Laos, and Cambodia are also on the list.

From India, most of the startups—four each—were from the agriculture, bio-technology and healthcare sectors. Technology, and education & recruitment come next, with three companies each. Startups from logistics & transportation; construction & engineering; and food & hospitality sectors have two companies each on the list; while entertainment & media, and e-commerce & retail sectors are at the rear end with only one company each that has made it to the list.

The list of Indian startups on the Forbes Asia ‘100 to watch’ list:

1. Aqauconnect (Agriculture)

2. BeatO (Biotechnology & Healthcare)

3. Bellatrix Aerospace (Logistics & Transportation)

4. Betterplace (Education & Recruitment)

5. Brick & Bolt (Construction & Engineering)

6. Captain Fresh (E-commerce & Retail)

7. Convosight Analytics (Technology)

8. DrinkPrime (Food & Hospitality)

9. Entri Software (Education & Recruitment)

10. Fasal (Agriculture)

11. Gamezop (Entertainment & Media)

12. Gramophone (Agriculture)

13. I2e1 (Technology)

14. Log 9 Materials (Technology)

15. Makers Hive (Biotechnology& Healthcare)

16. Oye! Rickshaw (Logistics & Transformation)

17. Planys Technologies (Construction & Engineering)

18. Qzense Labs (Agriculture)

19. Sarva (Education& Recruitment)

20. Truemeds (Biotechnology& Healthcare)

21. Turtle Shell Technologies (Biotechnology& Healthcare)

22. Vahdam India (Food & Hospitality)

Companies that make it to the list have an innovative and society-driven approach to business. Some of these companies address issues of food wastage, mobility, and connectivity issues in smaller parts of India, among other problems.

“At a time when economies worldwide are struggling from the pandemic, these agile companies are on a growth path. Their inclusion in the list comes in part from addressing problems such as improving transportation in congested cities, expanding affordable connectivity in remote regions and preventing food waste,” Forbes Asia said.

The startups and small companies on Forbes Asia’s inaugural ‘100 to watch’ list were selected from a large pool of 900 nominations received via online applications. To qualify, companies were required to be headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region, be at least a year old, privately owned, and for profit, with a latest annual revenue of maximum $20 million. Forbes Asia used metrics such as a positive impact on the industry/region, a strong track record of revenue growth, a promising business model, and a persuasive story to choose the companies on the list.

Click here to view Forbes Asia's inaugural '100 to watch' list